Sewer-flushing mechanism



R. A. M-AD'DOX.

SEW ERFLUSHIN'G MECHANISM. APPLICATION FILED NOV. h, 191:9.

1,349,078. n Allg- 10,1920.

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AUORNEY flushing the same.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT A. MADDOX, OF LOS- ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

SEWER-FLUSHING MECHANISM.

Application filed. November 1, 1919.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, ROBERT A. MADDoX, a citizen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Sewer-Flushing Mechanism, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to sewer flushing mechanism, and is particularly directed to that class, which are automatic in operation, and is best exemplified by the Patent No. 1,256,656, granted Feb. 19th, 1918 to Garrie H. Burns.

My invention is designed to be an improvement on the mechanism and mode of operation disclosed in the above mentioned patent, which briefly stated, comprises an ordinary flushing well, which communicates at its bottom with the sewer conduit, by means of an opening adapted to be opened and closed by an automatically operated valve, which is adapted to be opened by a tripping mechanism controlled by a predetermined head of water which is permitted to flow into said well at a regulated speed. The water in the well, when it reaches a predetermined level, flows through an overflow pipe into a bucket arranged below a false bottom in said well. which when it receives a sufficient quantity of water to overbalance the weight of the valve. serves to open the same and allow the main body Specification of Letters Patent.

of water to flow into the conduit, thereby By this construction it is obvious that it is not only necessary to have a bucket which will be large enough to hold enough water to overbalance the weight of a heavy valve, but said bucket must also be of sufiicient capacity to overcome the weight of the head of water above said val e. This has been found disadvantageous inasmuch as the space in the well is limited, and the cost of a large bucket. which necessarily must be made of an expensive non-corrosive material is prohibitive.

One object of my pres nt invention is to provide a means, whereby the head of water in the well will not act to increase the resistance of the valve against the action of the valve opening mechanism, whereby the valve opening mechanism or bucket may be made relatively small.

In the construction disclosed in the above mentioned patent, the tripping bucket is shown as being mounted below the level of 1 vide d with the valve 11,

Patented Aug. 10, 1920.

Serial No. 334,951.

the false bottom of the well. This is objectionable inasmuch as it is found necessary to build said false bottom a considerable distance up in said well, to accommodate the bucket, thereby involving a great expense, in time, labor and material, as well as reducing the head of water, this is particularly true where the well is placed at the head of a lateral of the sewerage system, which is the general practice. In this case the bottom of the well is on a level with the bottom side of the wall of the pipe lateral and is usually inclined, in order to insure perfect drainage.

It is another object of my present invention to overcome the above recited difficulties by providing a mechanism which may be readily adapted to flushing wells without the necessity of materially altering said well.

Other objects will appear in the following description, will be pointed out in the claim, and will be embodied in the accompanying drawing, which is a vertical longitudinal section through a flushing well and pipe lateral, showiug also in section my apparatus installed in operative reiation therewith.

Referring more particularly to the accompanying drawing. 5 represents an ordinary flushing well, constructed of concrete or mesonry. which is located at the head of the sewer lateral 6. The bottom of said well is preferably inclined as at 7 in order to insure a perfect drainage to the lateral 6. The top of well 5 is covered by an inner man hole 8 and an outer man hole 9, which is approximately level with the street. Leading into the well 5 at its top is a water pipe 10 prowhich may be conveniently reached from the man holes 8 and 9 and be regulated to permit water to flow into said well at any desired speed.

Mounted adjacent the bottom of well 5, on a level just above the lateral 6, is a false bottom 18, preferably formed of wood which has been treated with asphalt or other suitable material to make it water tight. Bottom 13 is provided with an opening 14. adapted to receive a valve seat 15, which is provided with a spider 16 at its lower end, said spider being provided with a centrally disposed hub 17, having a bore 18 adapted to receive for sliding motion therein the vertically disposed rod 19, which is guided therein.

.A valve 20 adapted to register with seat the water in well 5..

The top end of rod 19 is pivoted at 24 to one end of a walking beam 25, which is pivoted at 26 at a point between its ends to an arm 27 which extends from a stand pipe 28 and is vertically adjustable thereon. V The standpipe 28 is supported on a housing 29,

which extends upwardly into 'well' 5 and rests upon the false bottom 13 just over an aperture 30 cut into said false bottom.

By. the above recited construction it will be seen that a communicating passage is formed between the upper end of standpipe 28 and the part of the well below bottom'13. I

Pivoted at 32 to an car on the inner wall of housing 29, is a tripping bucket 34, which normally is held upwardly in said housing by means of the rod 35, which is pivoted at one end to the bottom of bucket .34 and extends upwardly through the standpipe 28 and is pivoted at 36 to the opposite end of walking beam 25. The bucket 34 is open at its top, at a-point directly below the standpipe 28 in order that when water enters said standpipe, it will flow into said bucket. An auxiliary standpipe 38 is pivoted at 39 on the side of standpipe 28, and is adapted to swing on said pivot in order that its free end may be raised or lowered to regulate the level of the water in well 'The valve 20 and accompanying mecha-.

nism is of such weight as to overbalance the weight of bucket 34 and its accompanying mechanism, hence said valve is always normally held on its seat, and said bucket is held up in the housing 29. lVhen the water which flows through pipe 10 into well 5, reaches thelevel of either of the standpipes 28 or 38, it flows through one or the the same, thus allowing the main body of water to flow into lateral 6 and thereby flush the sewerage system. When bucket 34 tilts to open valve 20 as shown in dotted lines, the water in said bucket flows slowly through an aperture 41 formed in the nose of said bucket. When bucket 34 becomes empty, the valve 20 again seeks its seat.

By arranging the sleeve 22 on the top of valve 20 it is obvious that all pressure of water on said valve is eliminated, which enables me to employ a bucket of much smaller dimensions than has heretofore been used. It is also obvious that by employing the housing 29, I am enabled to 'maintain a greater head of water in a well of the same capacity than hasheretofore been done.

What I claim is:

A sewer flushing system comprising a well, a sewer pipe leading to the bottom of said well a false bottom in said well, a valved opening in said false bottom, said false bottom being also provided with an opening, a housing secured to the upper face of said false bottom and covering said opening, a tiltable pan or bucket pivotally mounted within said housing, said tilting pan or bucket being above the upper face of said false bottom when in a normal position, a tubular standard extending upwardly from said housing, an overflow pipe leading to said tubular standard, an arm secured to the upper end of said tubular standard, alever pivotally secured to said arm midway of its ends, an actuating rod pivotally secured to one end of said lever, the free end of said rod being pivotally secured to said pan or bucket, and valve actuating rod secured to the other end of said lever and to the valve controlling said valve opening, whereby when said tilting bucket is empty said'valve will overbalance the same and when said bucket is filled it will overbalance the valve. 7

In witness that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto subscribed my name this 16th day of October, 1919. i

' ROBERT A. BEADDOX. 

